PSH-24-0146 - In the Matter of Personnel Security Hearing

On November 4, 2024, an Administrative Judge determined that the Individual's access authorization should not be restored under 10 C.F.R. Part 710. In December 2023, the Individual was charged with Assault Causes Bodily Injury because of a physical altercation he was involved in in September 2023. The Individual admitted that prior to that physical altercation, he had consumed four to six beers and two to three mixed drinks. The LSO subsequently issued two Letters of Interrogatory (LOI) and requested that the Individual be evaluated by a DOE-consultant Psychologist (DOE Psychologist), who found that he met sufficient Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fifth Edition ( DSM-5) criteria for a diagnosis of Unspecified Alcohol -Related Disorder, without adequate evidence of rehabilitation or reformation. The Individual testified that he was leaving a bar, where he had a few drinks, when a high school acquaintance attempted to stop him from driving his motorcycle home because the acquaintance believe that the Individual was too intoxicated to operate a vehicle safely, which led to an altercation. In his report, the DOE Psychologist recommended that to demonstrate rehabilitation or reformation the Individual should participate in an intensive outpatient program (IOP) with a minimum of nine hours of therapeutic and educational meetings a week for a period of twelve to sixteen weeks. The IOP should have group and individual therapy components. The Individual should also complete weekly aftercare meetings for at least six months following the IOP and submit negative PEth tests. Alternatively, if he did not complete an IOP, the Individual should participate in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) four nights a week and provide twelve months of negative PEth tests . The Individual admitted that he has not engaged in any of the treatment that the DOE Psychologist recommended as he thought they were options. He also testified that although he saw physical, emotional, and financial benefits of being abstinent, he drank a few days before the hearing, which was confirmed by his wife. The Administrative Judge found that none of the mitigating conditions have been satisfied and that the Individual had not demonstrated that he had resolved the security concerns arising under Guideline G. (OHA Case No. PSH-24-0146, Fishman)